The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1887-12-20

I
and the brine, with perhaps, unknown mon
! sters of the deep lowering near, tried their
nerves severely, though practiced beach COM
bers made light of it all.
One day an agent of the underwriters ar
rived, and announced that, as all the wreck
ing so far done was Illegal, he would take pos
/ session of the goods and assume future charge
| OF operations himself. lie was Immediately
surrounded by n clamorous mob, that soon be-
gan to howl for blood, or an undisturbed lecog-
milton of their rights.
The country was isolated, the goods pcrisha-
! bic, and the beach COmberS desperate. The
! agent concluded that discretion was the better
| part of valor and departed, Illuminating direful
threats regarding certain forthcoming legal
| penalties which were never afterwards heard
! of by the ones threatened.
The first Sunday at the wreck was saddened
| by the discovery OF the body of an unknown
| boy, minus an arm inawed off by sharks. The
! sichcning thrill that comes over one, on find
4 ing a corpse washed up from the sea, can
! hardly be described. Death has a forbidding
AearnesS, as though the sghtless face turned
| upward toward the sky had opened its dumb
| mouth and said: 1T might have been thou"
| One remembers the petition for deliverance
! from sudden death, and men, otherwise god
less revercntly bear the unfortunate to his
| grave among the sand hills, and for the rest of
| the day go about subdued and reflective.
Several barrels of sugar. but little dam
aged by their long submersion, were taken
| from the LadonR's hold, and were the cause of
laughabe affair. Old Moss Moore, being an
! old backwoods recluSe, had camped by himself
at point some sixty yards in the rear of the
other beach-combers. One night they were
| aroused from their mosquito bars by shouts
from that direction, and the sound of boxes or
| barrels being upset. In a minute or so old
| Messy himself burst into their midst, with his
| long hair and undergarmentS flying.
"Boys," he gasped, "the devil himself is
over thar plyn' thunder with everything"
But while he was explaining the deep bay of
cold Foot, a veteran hound that had been
Moss Moores inseparable companion for years,
was heard, echoing down the marsh lying be-
yond the saw palmettos at the rear of the sand
dunes bordering the beach. That familiar
sound recalled the old man to his senses.
perhaps hits some varmint after all, said
he.
A dozen half clad men were now standing
round bare-footed, and with such firearms as
they could lay their hands on. All started en-
masse for Old Mossy's camp and found, by the
light. of hastily gathered torch or two, bar,
rel of sugar upset over his bed and the sand
confusedly marked by clawlike indentations,
not unlike human feet.
cts a woody devil, and black at that" quoth
Boy Blue, who loved hunting better than eat
ing any time.
With many whoop and laugh at Old
Mossy's expense, the men scattered themselves
over marsh and scrub, following Old Foot's
cheering tones who seemed to be making it
lively for the object Of pursuit. In ten min
careeoring wildly over the sand hills, like
tribe of wild Arabs. Now and th3n. q SHOT
would be fired. Finally, half mile down the
beach, the lover Of stolen sweets was laid low
by two shots from party Of Bahamians, one
of whom owned q Winchester and made good
use of it.
It was ono of the black bears, then common
enough in that region, but it was so lean they
could hardly blame the poor brute, who, made
bold by hunger, had invaded old Mossy's sugar
barrel, and tumbled 1t and himself over the
old fellows bed and person. The master, sud
denly reused from slumber, fled in terror; but
the dog had couTageously put the bear to flight
at once.
Our party continued their wrecling opera
lions for week longer, when an event oc-
CURED that at once terminated all desire on the
part of many to further risk themselves ON
board the Inflated steamship.
A heavy sOuthea8ter had blown for two days,
during which no trips to the wreck could be
made, while the heavy cable stretching from
the vessel to the shore, was half the time in
visible beneath the great green "combers,"
some of which would burst upward into tow
ering high masses abaft the stump OF the fore
mast and fall over the bow in laundering
sheets of foam. The third night tho wind
lulled, then shifted lightly to the west, blow
ing off shore, so that by low tide the next day.
the sea had greatly fallen, though there was
considerable dead swell on"
1t was not long before eight or ten Of the
younger men were strung along the cable and
pulled themselves on board. The sloping deck
was slippery, and the port bulwarks, hitherto
intact, had given away before the two days
battering, and in parting loose had torn off o
portion of the iron plating of the hull, leaving
a gaping hole, through which the sea poured
spasmodically, with hollow, despairing wall
To descend into the lower hold seemed haz-
ardous, but Boy Blue was the first to tacitly
volunteer, by fastening the end OF a boat hall
yard round his waist, saying;
~ reckon Pm about the best swimmer boys.
If ] get back all right, one Of you can follow.
There may be sharks down there so keep the
rope taut, and when / jerk 1t, pull me up as
though the Old Harry was below"
Boy Blue, like too many other brave hearts,
was reckless in his language at times, but the
others admired his frank audacity none the
less for that. We lowered him TO the second
deck and as he stood waist deep in water, with
his feet on the combings of the lower hatchway,
he shouted back
'"raint like lady's parlor below, boys, but
here goes"
And down he sank. They kept tight grip
on the rope and peered over into the soething
cavern of water. Boy Blue was nearly rs good
as a Bahama diver 1T holding his breath, but
his mates grew uneasy this time over his delay
in Jerking the rope. Finally IL was ierked
with q vengeance, nearly sending Little Dave,
who held it, headlong through the hatch.
Then they began pulling, astonished TO feel
how heavy Boy Blue had grown in the last
minute or so.
1iS . t5pb - piaO VI VI rpDAS tAiAo tiAiAS'
cor barrel Of coal OIL"
"OF one of those"
Their comments were cut short by tho APP
pearance Of Boy Blues back and legs, with
two dark, shiny looking arms twined round
them. Then they pulled franticaly, fearing
too, lest the rope should break. His whole
person slowly came into view, held firmly In
the grasp Of other similar horrible, tenacious
tentacles.
The men shuddcringly realized his peril, for
who has not read or heard OF the octOpus2 The
legend of the Kraken and Victor Hugos
graphic description OF tho devil fish, flashed
through Little Dawes mind as he behed Boy
Blue hanging insensible in that mercess, un-
yielding clasp
One Of their number was the Bahamian who
had shot the bear. lie was swarthy, keen
eyed fellow apparently as much at home here
as though amid the fnangoes and pncaDples q
Nassau and San Salvador. 1Ie carried in his
belt a spOngor's knife, detached from the long
pole whereon IL is used It's heavy, two foot
blade rendered it formidable weapon.
While the rest were staring helplessly, he
drew this knife and, descending the iron ladder
at the side Of the hatchway, severed one OF tho
hideous arms with bold stroke, at the same
time screaming out,
"You pull en- fast"
The men hoisted away Ike madmen.
Assrs fsfr. fI.fs.